Wow. Thanks for representining. I came in to tout Oklahoma’s famous people, but you did way better than I could have. There’s one more I’d like to add: Valjean Johns who was from my home town of Shattuck, OK. No one knows who he is, but he is known for writing the tune to the Ben Casey tv show. 
I don’t even recognize that TV show, but that is still cool. Talk about a small OK town!
Indiana
The Jacksons
Wes Montgomery
Dan Quayle
Dick York
Carol Lombard
Indiana:
Axl Rose
Robert Frost?
On those grounds, I propose North Carolina : James Taylor.
Some to add to Astorian’s great summary, from states I’ve lived in:
Hawaii: Agree with the poster on Elvis or Don Ho or Kamehameha. The other two have closer ties to the state, but Elvis is the first one I thought of.
Nebraska: Tom Osborne
South Dakota: Wild Bill Hickok
Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Cody
Another excellent suggestion.
I wouldn’t count him because he had to go elsewhere to get famous and never came back.
My list wasn’t perfect- I apologize for not seeing or adding all the nominees. Others are free to copy and add on whomever they like.
Thing is, I THINK the OP was looking for more than just famous people from a given state.
I mean, John Wayne may very well be the most famous person ever to come from Iowa… but does his name make you think of Iowa? Nah.
Michael Jackson is surely the most famous musical artist ever to come from Indiana, far more famous than John Cougar Mellencamp… and yet Mellencamp makes me think of Indiana and Jacko doesn’t.
Some people become almost synonymous with their hometowns or home states, while other people who are greater or even more famous don’t.
Thanks for your excellent compilation of the states!
As for my intentions with the OP, I deliberately tried to leave it up to everybody what their connection(s) might be. There are many other Tennesseans to be considered as being “most famous” or “most iconic” besides Elvis. Just to name a few, Chet Atkins and Dolly Parton in the entertainment field, Peyton Manning and Eddie George in sports (both hail from other states), or Howard Baker and Fred Thompson in politics. In fact, Fred might be a good all-round example.
But in my own mind, when you say Elvis, you think of Memphis and thus Tennessee.
It’s been amusing to see where people’s choices have gone, and I see no “right answer” or “right interpretation” of the OP’s challenge.
In fact, I’d love to see a spinoff thread using some other state-oriented, or even city-oriented theme.
One more thing. Tennessee is all spread out west to east and there are at least three major divisions of the state as exemplified by the three stars on the state flag. Having just one representative whatever for the entire state is going to cause friction somewhere in the state, even if the field were narrowed down to just one category. And it appears to me to be that way in most (if not all) states. Especially the bigger states geographically like Texas, California, and Florida.
But it’s been a rewarding thread for me and I’m glad so many got into the spirit of it. Thanks to all who played along!
It’s really not that hard with Florida. We’re like California; people come here to make it. Very few of those people come from here.
I’d like to add Jesse James as a** Missouri** icon
Kind of like Charlie Christian, then. Born in Texas, but raised in OKC. He will always be remembered as a pioneering guitarist. His influence and popularity are felt in several different (tho related) genres.
The Charlie Christian Jazz Festival, now renamed, has been held in the Deep Deuce section of OKC since before the Bricktown revitalization.
So, for any musicians, esp Jazz musicians, Charlie Christian will be associated with OKC.
For Oklahoma in general, I would say Will Rogers tops the list of a name associated with the state.
.
Another excellent choice- I’d still put Mark Twain first, but Jesse is definitely a Missouri icon.
When I was a kid, I might well have nominated Anita Bryant. Seriously, the one and only celeb I knew then who was clearly associated with Florida was Anita Bryant, orange juice spokeswoman.
New Jersey is Springsteen hands down.
Alabama: Bear Bryant, George Wallace, Martin Luther King Jr.
Alaska: Sarah Palin, Jewel, Ted Stevens
Arizona: Geronimo, Cochise, Barry Goldwater
Arkansas: Bill Clinton, J. William Fulbright, Sam Walton
California: The Beach Boys
Colorado: John Denver, Zebulon Pike
Connecticut: Nathan Hale, William F. Buckley, Mark Twain
Delaware: the du Ponts
Florida: Ponce de Leon, Hulk Hogan, Backstreet Boys, Anita Bryant
Georgia: Ray Charles, Martin Luther King, Lester Maddox
Hawaii: King Kamehameha, Don Ho, Elvis, Duke Kahahnamoku
Idaho: Sacajawea
Illinois: Abe Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, Mayor Richard Daley, Al Capone, Jane Addams
Indiana: John Cougar Mellencamp, Michael Jackson
Iowa: Buffalo Bill Cody, Meredith Willson
Kansas: L. Frank Baum, John Brown, Wyatt Earp
Kentucky: Daniel Boone, Abe Lincoln, Bill Monroe, Muhammad Ali
Louisiana: Huey Long, Louis Armstrong, Edwin Edwards
Maine: Stephen King
Maryland: Lord Baltimore, Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, Johnny Unitas
Massachusetts: John Adams, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, the Kennedys
Michigan: Henry Ford, Bob Seger, many soul artists, Bo Schembechler, Eminem, Madonna, Stevie Wonder
Minnesota: Hubert Humphrey, Prince, Garrison Keillor
Mississippi: William Faulkner
Missouri: Mark Twain, Harry Truman, Jesse James
Montana: Crazy Horse, George Armstrong Custer
Nebraska: William Jennings Bryan, Johnny Carson, Willa Cather, Tom Osborne
Nevada: Bugsy Siegel, Wayne Newton, Elvis, Liberace, Rat Pack
New Hampshire: Daniel Webster, Robert Frost
New Jersey: Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Thomas Edison
New Mexico: Billy the Kid
New York: Billy Joel, Washington Irving, Paul Simon, Woody Allen
North Carolina: Dean Smith, Mike Kryszewski, Wright Brothers
North Dakota:
Ohio: Wright Brothers, John Glenn, Woody Hayes, Neil Armstrong, Drew Carey, Jerry Springer
Oklahoma: Woody Guthrie, Barry Switzer, Will Rogers, Wiley Post, James Garner, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire
Oregon: Phil Knight, the Kingsmen, Matt Groening
Pennsylvania; William Penn, Benjamin Franklin
Rhode Island: Roger Williams, Seth McFarlane
South Carolina: John C. Calhoun, Andrew Jackson
South Dakota: Sitting Bull, George McGovern, Wild Bill Hickok
Tennessee: Elvis Presley, Davy Crockett
Texas: Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Sam Houston, Willie Nelson, the Bush Clan, Stevie Ray Vaughn, ZZTop
Utah: Brigham Young, the Osmonds
Vermont: Ethan Allen, Ben & Jerry
Virginia: George Washington, Robert E. Lee
Washington: Nirvana/Kurt Cobain, Bill Gates
West Virginia: Chuck Yeager
Wisconsin: Vince Lombardi
Wyoming: Nellie Tayloe Ross, Dick Cheney, Jackson Pollock, Owen Wister, Buffalo Bill Cody
Washington DC: Duke Ellington
Alabama: Bear Bryant, George Wallace, Martin Luther King Jr.
Alaska: Sarah Palin, Jewel, Ted Stevens
Arizona: Geronimo, Cochise, Barry Goldwater
Arkansas: Bill Clinton, J. William Fulbright, Sam Walton
California: The Beach Boys
Colorado: John Denver, Zebulon Pike
Connecticut: Nathan Hale, William F. Buckley, Mark Twain
Delaware: the du Ponts
Florida: Ponce de Leon, Hulk Hogan, Backstreet Boys, Anita Bryant
Georgia: Ray Charles, Martin Luther King, Lester Maddox
Hawaii: King Kamehameha, Don Ho, Elvis, Duke Kahahnamoku
Idaho: Sacajawea
Illinois: Abe Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, Mayor Richard Daley, Al Capone, Jane Addams
Indiana: John Cougar Mellencamp, Michael Jackson, David Letterman, Bobby Knight, Larry Bird, Johnny Appleseed
Iowa: Buffalo Bill Cody, Meredith Willson
Kansas: L. Frank Baum, John Brown, Wyatt Earp
Kentucky: Daniel Boone, Abe Lincoln, Bill Monroe, Muhammad Ali
Louisiana: Huey Long, Louis Armstrong, Edwin Edwards
Maine: Stephen King
Maryland: Lord Baltimore, Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, Johnny Unitas, Edgar Allan Poe
Massachusetts: John Adams, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, the Kennedys
Michigan: Henry Ford, Bob Seger, many soul artists, Bo Schembechler, Eminem, Madonna, Stevie Wonder
Minnesota: Hubert Humphrey, Prince, Garrison Keillor
Mississippi: William Faulkner, John Grisham, Tennessee Williams
Missouri: Mark Twain, Harry Truman, Jesse James
Montana: Crazy Horse, George Armstrong Custer
Nebraska: William Jennings Bryan, Johnny Carson, Willa Cather, Tom Osborne
Nevada: Bugsy Siegel, Wayne Newton, Elvis, Liberace, Rat Pack
New Hampshire: Daniel Webster, Robert Frost
New Jersey: Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Thomas Edison
New Mexico: Billy the Kid, Georgia O’Keeffe
New York: Billy Joel, Washington Irving, Paul Simon, Woody Allen
North Carolina: Dean Smith, Mike Kryszewski, Wright Brothers
North Dakota:
Ohio: Wright Brothers, John Glenn, Woody Hayes, Neil Armstrong, Drew Carey, Jerry Springer
Oklahoma: Woody Guthrie, Barry Switzer, Will Rogers, Wiley Post, James Garner, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire
Oregon: Phil Knight, the Kingsmen, Matt Groening
Pennsylvania; William Penn, Benjamin Franklin
Rhode Island: Roger Williams, Seth McFarlane
South Carolina: John C. Calhoun, Andrew Jackson, Francis Marion
South Dakota: Sitting Bull, George McGovern, Wild Bill Hickok
Tennessee: Elvis Presley, Davy Crockett
Texas: Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Sam Houston, Willie Nelson, the Bush Clan, Stevie Ray Vaughn, ZZTop
Utah: Brigham Young, the Osmonds
Vermont: Ethan Allen, Ben & Jerry
Virginia: George Washington, Robert E. Lee
Washington: Nirvana/Kurt Cobain, Bill Gates
West Virginia: Chuck Yeager
Wisconsin: Vince Lombardi
Wyoming: Nellie Tayloe Ross, Dick Cheney, Jackson Pollock, Owen Wister, Buffalo Bill Cody
Washington DC: Duke Ellington
Can’t believe I’m gonna be the first to suggest Michael Jordan for Illinois.